Here Come Caffeinated Cracker Jacks, Just in Time to Replace 5-Hour Energy

We're guessing the prize at the bottom is heart arrhythmia!

Earlier this week, we received some rather alarming news about the tech world’s premiere hackathon fuel: The FDA is currently investigating a number of deaths tied to 5-Hour Energy. Yikes! Where can sleep-deprived coders and frazzled biz dev dudes turn now? One person can only drink so many K-cups.

Well, don’t look now, but there’s an old American favorite riding to our rescue. Frito-Lay is introducing a line of products called “Cracker Jack’d.” And get ready to have your face rocked off, because among the new varieties will be something called “Power Bites,” which come slathered in caffeine. A spokesperson told Ad Age there are “two flavors that will contain coffee, a natural source of caffeine, as an ingredient.”

But before you start pre-ordering this new snack by the case, you might want to note the objections of the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

“Caffeine is generally recognized as safe only in cola-type beverages and only at concentrations of 0.02% or less (about 72 mg per 12 oz.),” the organization said in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Each 2 oz. package of “Power Bites” will apparently contain something like 70mg of caffeine, though the details are still being finalized.

We eagerly await a campaign that attempts to make the phrase “Crack(er Jack’d) Out” socially acceptable.

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